


Arrangements

by UbiquitousMixie



Category: Nurse Jackie (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-25
Updated: 2012-01-25
Packaged: 2017-10-30 03:11:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/327122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UbiquitousMixie/pseuds/UbiquitousMixie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Which part wasn’t important? The part where you were cheating on her with me, or the part where you assumed I wouldn’t mind being the other woman?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Arrangements

**Author's Note:**

> Set post-2x08.

Zoey knows she should leave this alone. It’s what Jackie would do—if Jackie were crazy enough to get involved with a _doctor_ who’s apparently involved with someone else. And there’s no way that Jackie would be so careless. What _would_ Jackie do? She contemplates hopping back in the elevator and swinging by the nurses’ station to ask her, but she can’t come up with a good metaphor for “what do you do when you find out the woman you’ve been sleeping with is in a relationship with someone else?” Saying it outright is totally out of the question; she’s pretty sure O’Hara hasn’t told anyone about their— _thing_ —because she would know. She _thinks_ she’d know, at any rate. Jackie has the uncanny ability to tell whenever Zoey’s lying (though her mother insists that a blind raccoon would know when she was bending the truth), and she’s fairly certain that she shouldn’t be making things worse. 

Before Zoey decides to leave it alone for real, the door opens. She jumps in surprise and, in order to qualm her nerves, snaps to attention as if O’Hara were a drill sergeant in red high heels. 

“You’ve walked by my door three times,” the doctor says, a spark of bemusement in her tone. “I’m assuming there is no emergency? No severed limbs or ferocious animal attacks?” 

“Negative. All is quiet on the western front,” Zoey replies, her heart beating somewhat faster now that she’s actually here. 

“Is this a social call then?” O’Hara counters, her lips turning up into a smirk. She steps aside, allowing Zoey space to pass. “Come in.” 

Zoey tries not to look over-anxious, but her palms are sweaty and O’Hara’s perfume makes her legs tremble. She turns her body so that she can slide into the small space between the door and the doctor, careful not to touch her. She immediately sits down. 

“You’re acting particularly odd today,” announces the doctor, closing the door behind her. As she passes Zoey to round the desk to her chair, she flicks her finger against the dangling pink earring clipped to Zoey’s ear. A shudder races down the young woman’s spine. 

“I met your lady friend,” Zoey blurts out, her eyes widening in surprise. She hadn’t actually expected to open with that, and certainly hadn’t intended to make it sound like an accusation. “Girlfriend, I mean. Or partner.” She bites her lip. “Sarah.” 

“So you have,” the doctor replies blandly. She doesn’t react; she simply watches the younger nurse squirm. 

When Zoey imagined how this conversation would go, she had expected impassioned pleas and colorful excuses and melodramatic soap opera music. She hadn’t expected O’Hara to be so…calm. She feels hers nerves beginning to rattle her, twisting her stomach into a painful knot. “Why didn’t you tell me that you were in a relationship?” 

O’Hara sighs slightly, leaning her forearms on the desk. She clasps her hands and Zoey tries not to look at her long fingers. “It wasn’t important for you to know about it.” 

“Which part wasn’t important? The part where you were cheating on her with me, or the part where you assumed I wouldn’t mind being the other woman?” 

The older woman’s eyebrows rise in shock. “Sarah and I have an arrangement.” 

“Yeah, but…” Zoey blinks a few times when her eyes begin to sting. “But I don’t have an arrangement. And I’m not okay with it.” 

“If it makes you feel any better, Sarah is no longer in the picture.” 

Zoey’s shoulders slump and she frowns. “You’re not together anymore?” 

O’Hara clears her throat. “No.” 

“That doesn’t make me feel better. It makes me sad because she’s great and pretty and successful and I thought she made you happy.” 

“She did make me happy. Until she didn’t.” 

“Okay but…you were still with her when you and I started our thing and you should have told me.” Zoey jumps to her feet then, determined to say what’s on her mind before she throws up on the doctor’s desk. “I’m not the kind of girl who sleeps with people in relationships. I don’t know what you were thinking when you kissed me that first time—“ 

“Zoey, may I say something?” 

The nurse is too nervous to say no, so she nods. 

“I kissed you because I wanted to kiss you. I pursued you because I enjoy your company and I’m actually rather fond of you. My relationship with Sarah has nothing to do with my relationship with you. They are completely separate.” 

“You’re…fond of me?” Despite the complicated swirl of mixed emotions, Zoey’s mouth twists into a smile. She feels warm all over.

O’Hara rolls her eyes and smiles. “Isn’t that obvious?” 

“Not _that_ obvious.” The nurse shifts on her feet. “So…” 

“I’m sorry for putting you in a compromising position.” 

“Okay. Well…good. You should be sorry. That wasn’t very cool.” 

O’Hara stands up, coming around to perch her hips on the desk in front of Zoey. She crosses her arms in front of her chest. “I’ll understand if you’d prefer not to continue spending time with me.” 

“Let’s not get too hasty…” Zoey abruptly adds, suddenly terrified that O’Hara may come to her senses and decide that she can do better. “You’re single now?” 

“I am.” 

“Well…maybe we could try again. You know, with a little more honesty this time.” 

“I would like that very much.” O’Hara smiles, and Zoey’s toes tingle at the sight of the woman’s beautiful face. Has she ever looked prettier? Zoey doesn’t think so, but she knows that O’Hara will be even more gorgeous the next time she sees her. 

“Great. Well. I have to get back downstairs. You know, lives to save and such. So…right. I’ll see you soon, Doctor O’Hara.” She spins on her heel, bolting for the door. O’Hara grabs her arm before she can reach for the doorknob. 

O’Hara tilts Zoey’s face up toward her own before pressing a soft, feather-light kiss on her mouth. The nurse’s mouth goes dry and she exhales sharply, her face growing hot as a flush overtakes her. The doctor grins and opens the door for her, and Zoey doesn’t feel her feet touch the ground until she reaches the elevator. 

Zoey still has no idea what she’s doing. She feels weird about the fact that she had no idea that O’Hara and her hot girlfriend had broken up, and weirder still that O’Hara actually wants to keep seeing her. Mostly, Zoey wants to know what a woman like O’Hara could possibly see in her, but she decides she will definitely keep that one to herself. She’s not going to jinx this by saying it out loud. She and O’Hara have their own little arrangement now and, as the elevator doors open, she jumps excitedly into the hallway. She’s not sure what this means for them, if they’re dating or just fooling around or if they’re in a relationship, but she’s really, _really_ excited to find out.

\---


End file.
